Hiding Royals
by AeroRace
Summary: Prince Roy Mustang has all but two things: the throne and a girl. He can't get a throne without a girl. He's finally found someone, but what happens when old laws get in the way of new found love? AU Royai. T for swearing/possible future.
1. Chapter 1

**Be warned, this is cliche and a little like Aladdin. Oh well, I'm having way to much fun writing it to care! Read and review please.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.  
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The crowd was ecstatic, to say the least. Girls were falling head-over-heels for him, and he knew it from the expressions on their faces. Some boys were too, which he appreciated just as much. Jealousy and anger in other faces was shown, but it was far less and he took no offense for he would be the same way. Luckily, he didn't have to. He had everything, or almost everything.

There were two things missing in his life: the throne, and a girl. With those two things, life couldn't possibly be anything less than perfect. The throne would mean power to do what he pleased, but he was different than others that wished for the seat. He didn't want the riches, the fame, even if it was nice, or the power. He wanted to do good in the world, to help others, to turn his country into a better place. Half the country was in great poverty, and the west seemed to bathe in prosperity while those of the east were suffering. Something had to be done about this, but his stubborn and ambitious father was unable to complete this goal which he shared. His father had good intentions, but failed to follow through with his ideas.

Almost all the girls in the country loved him. He had the looks, the personality, the wealth. How could they not want him for their own? He knew he was good, and had all the choices in the world. At least, if he weren't a prince he would have a choice. This prince was not allowed to marry any women who wasn't a princess, or else the throne would not be his and his father would have to have another child to carry on the responsibilities of being a king. His father was far to old for this, and when he passed the child would be young. Besides, there was only a 50% of the child being male. No, he had to marry a princess, it was his only option to carry out his goal.

"It's Roy Mustang!" cried the crowds as he was paraded through the streets on the back of a beautiful white horse, specifically picked to outline the beauty of the prince. Roy grinned at certain woman in particular, trying to make them feel a little special. They were all wrapped in gorgeous silks and bright colors with jewels practically wrapped around their bodies. Many of the girls were familiar to the prince considering he was always taking women from the west to his home. There were no rules against dating other women for pleasure, even if they weren't princess'.

There were other women as well, but they weren't in the crowd. Their clothes were ragged, worn and devoid of colors other than browns, blacks, and whites. They still watched with the same love as those from the west, but also had jealousy in their eyes. After all, the market was in the middle of the east and the west, so they were bound to be there buying what little they could. They felt unimportant and unworthy. The truth was, they were beautiful as well and as much as Roy wouldn't mind taking them to his home, he felt it wouldn't be right. Maybe if they had tried harder to get his attention like the others, he would consider their actions. He could bathe them in riches, yet no one tried to gain his affection.

The parade of Roy Mustang and his guards continued on into the market, and the prince noticed a strange sight. At a stand was a long-haired blond girl, obviously from the east, who had her back to him, picking up fruits and the like off the stand. The women in front of her who seemed to own the stand was staring at Roy and shaking the blond's shoulder back and fourth, and Roy could see her say 'Roy Mustang' through her lips. Roy made his horse walk slower to watch, waiting to see the face of the woman who didn't look to the infamous prince. When she never turned, he was forced to move on away from her. What the hell? It was strange, indeed, thought Mustang. Maybe something was wrong with the woman, but even then she would have had to look. She was more defiant than anything and it made him angry. What was so wrong with being the loved prince that she had to not look at him? Although it was quite possible she loved him terribly and was afraid of being hurt just by looking at him. No, just watching her movements told him this was not the case. In fact, it was the opposite; it was hatred. Now Roy wished to see her face even more, to see her expression. If this woman wanted to be like this, fine, let her. Roy shouldn't have wasted his time on such a hopeless woman.

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><p>Roy Mustang returned to the castle and was greeted by his father and mother, who never usually went to the market with their son considering food was brought to them without them wasting any of their precious energy. "How was it, dearest?" his mother asked as she embraced her prince.<p>

"Fine mother." he said as he hugged back, not showing any of the annoyance he felt from the girl who had yet to have a face in his mind.

"Ah, you're a chip off the old block, son." said his father with a silly grin on his face. "I loved the commoners market when I was prince. Yes, indeed." he said thoughtfully. "I bet they love our handsome boy." continued.

"Of course they do!" said the Queen proudly. They had a right to take pride in their son. Most prince's gained much weight as they got older, and their looks seemed to get worse over time. Twenty-one years old and still as cute, and handsome, as he was when he was young, Roy was definitely lucky. "You know darling, many ambassadors come telling us they want to send their princess' to meet you in hopes of marriage. We told them all yes, of course." she smiled and patted her son on the back. "We best get going dear, we have a meeting with the council." she told him, and the king and queen were off.

Roy walked up the long palace steps until he reaches the double doors of his bedroom where his faithful servant was standing guard. "Hello Master." he said with a bow. "I assume your trip was pleasurable?" he asked, even though the smile on Roy told him it was a nice trip.

"I guess." responded the prince. "Geraldo, would you happen to have a copy of the dates I meet with princess'?" he asked as he took off his coat to hand to his servant, who took it as usual.

"Yes, sir. I know your first one is five days from now." said Geraldo, turning around to open the doors of the bedroom for Roy.

"Thank you." said the prince as he walked into the room. "And one more thing. I saw something interesting in the market today. It can make hair color lighter temporarily." he grinned and Geraldo sighed, but smiled as well.

"Yes, sir. I will pick some up right away." he said, then bowed respectfully. Roy knew his faithful servant knew his plan, and was glad he still obliged. Geraldo had been a servant of the Mustang family since he was just a baby, even before he was born. Followed every order and command. Despite the formality of their conversations, Roy would even consider him a friend.

His servant left and Roy decided it was to late to do anything that night. Instead, he would awaken early in the morning to carry out the plan, and he was excited.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2. Now I have to go do Latin homework, even though it's 11:00pm. Enjoy! **

There was glass bottle on the nightstand of Roy's bed with an odd white liquid in it which he found when he woke up in the morning. Roy lifted it and held it for a moment, studying it's contents. "Sir." a voice said as the doors opened to reveal Geraldo. "If you would meet me out by the river I will help you apply it with the instructions I received." he said fairly quietly. The prince nodded and stepped out of his king-sized bed. He decided against changing his clothes considering the 'potion' that would change his hair color might do damage to his clothing if it were to get any on them.

Roy walked down to the river behind the palace to where Geraldo was seated on the bank. He sat next to him and they were silent for a moment. Then Geraldo started explaining what would happen. "First, you will soak your hair with water, then I shall scrub this thick liquid in your hair and let it sit for quite some time. After this, I can take out the liquid with a towel." he paused, then continued with, "You cannot take it out with water because that is how you wash it out. Understood, master?" Roy nodded and dunked his entire head into the lake, coming back out soaked. He then turned so his back faced Geraldo and closed his eyes so his servant could get to work.

Finally, the towel made its way to Roy's once raven-colored hair to dry it off. The servant removed it slowly and when he was finished, he said, "Sir, this is really quite a change."

Roy picked up a portable mirror which had been brought out by his servant and took a look. His hair was a light chestnut color, no longer dark black. It was odd, and he felt it took away from his handsome face. Luckily, that was not necessary when he would be a commoner. "I love it." he said, bringing himself to a standing position. "I will be going now. Do you have the clothes I asked for?" he asked. Geraldo handed the prince a sack which had been on the grass not far off. Roy looked into it and grinned. The clothes were perfect, definitely from the east side. "Thank you. You may leave now." Roy said, receiving a bow from his servant, who walked off back into the palace.

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><p>The market was bustling with people from the east, but no one from the west was to be seen. This was to be expected when most households in the west could easily get their servants to run errands such as buying food for them. The people around him were all poor and struggling, some on the ground begging for money or food. Others were searching through small sacs in hope of finding extra change to support their family. Whenever Roy had previously visited the market, he had never seen such sights. Instead, there were crowds of westerners who had gone just to see him. Even those from the west didn't seem so poor at the time as they watched him. It was different mixing with them, seeing their everyday lives. How could he have been so ignorant?<p>

He walked through the marketplace as he observed what was going on until suddenly he felt something hit his shoulder. Roy turned around to see a cloaked figure walking away from him, assumed to be the one who hit him. He couldn't help but get angry at this person's actions. Was this how all commoners acted to each other? There was giggling coming from his right, two girls in ragged clothes. "The princess is so cold-hearted!" he heard one whisper to the other as she laughed. Princess, this rude person? Roy couldn't help but feel a little intrigued by this woman, and decided to turn and follow her.

"Hello, ma'am? I believe we just bumped, I wanted to apologize..." Roy Mustang said respectfully with a smile on his lips. He touched her shoulder, hoping to get her attention. She stopped and pulled off her hood, revealing long blond hair which was strikingly familiar. _No way,_ Roy thought. It had to be the woman from the other day, the one who didn't look at him!

She turned around, revealing a soft, beautiful face with deep brown eyes. "As you should. Bumping into ladies isn't very gentleman-like." she said, and once again turned away from him and walked away. Roy certainly wasn't expecting such a reaction. This girl was beyond rude, she was downright disrespectful. Not only that, but he felt rejected for once in his life. Plenty of girls had been looking at him when he was there, so why had she not bothered? Even though every bit of Roy disliked the way she was acting, he wanted to see what she thought of him as a prince, without her knowing who he was, even though she would say the same thing whether or not she knew.

Instead of just walking away like he should have, Roy followed the woman thinking of the right words to say to express his thoughts. He realized there was no other way than being blunt. "Miss." he started. Roy was going to be as suave as possible. "I heard you were a princess, and I don't want to offend you or anything, but is this true?" he asked simply, realizing he wasn't very successful.

"A princess? No, sorry to say I'm not. I'm going to guess you're a little out of your element." she responded, stopping in her tracks. Roy hadn't noticed that they were not longer in the market, but instead on a dirt path with broken down houses on the sides. He was in the east now and was curious as to why the two girls called her a princess if she wasn't one. "You know, some people have these fantasies where anyone can be a princess, but there is always one thing these fairy tale princess' don't have: money." she finished, looking at Roy with a fierce stare.

"How did you guess I'm not from around here?" he said, hoping she welcomed the change of subject. They continued to walk, and Roy took in the surroundings. There were people on the barren land who were attempting to bring up crops from their miniscule decaying gardens. Roy couldn't help but feel bad for these people.

"Sorry to say, but you are quite obvious." she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "First of all, your eyes. They show pity on us, like you have a better life than us. Second, your face. Not one scratch, bruise, or speck of dirt." said the girl.

"You don't either." retorted Roy, studying the girl's face. It looked baby-bottom smooth, and equally as clean.

"You're very naïve." she told him. "I don't know where your from, but women aren't allowed to do dirty work that would cause such changes in one's skin. Then again, no noble has to do dirty work." she finished bitterly. "Although I am glad we don't have arrange marriages here in the east like they do in the west." added the girl with a sorrowful face on. _Arranged marriages?_, thought Roy. Maybe he really was naïve. He would have to do something about these supposed arranged marriages if they really were happening. To take away the rights of women in marriage was absurd, even to the womanizing prince. "And lastly, you asked if I were a princess. I guess I could be one if you wish. Illegitimate Princess Elizabeth, 'Riza,' Hawkeye, at your service, sir." she said in a mocking tone.

Roy smiled, glad he finally knew the mystery woman's name. "Nice to meet you, my lady. I'm -" he paused and realized he couldn't use either Roy or Mustang as a name. "Maes. Maes Hughes." he finished, wondering where this name came from in his mind.

"Nice to meet you, Maes. Now may I ask what a noble is doing in the east disguised as a commoner?" Riza asked as the two continued to walk side-by-side.

"I was curious as to what life was like here." Roy responded. He looked to the sky and realized it was becoming dark faster than expected. Surely he hadn't spent the whole day with Riza? They had barely talked a decent conversation. He stopped looking up at the sky and turned to the woman, whose gaze had followed his.

"It's almost time for the sun to set. It is my day to cook dinner, so I should be getting home." sighed Riza. "While you may be an arrogant fool, you are welcome to -" she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of barking in the distance behind them, which was slowly growing louder and louder. Roy saw a small shape running on four legs towards them, and before he knew what hit him, he realized it had been a dog. Roy laid on the ground, his commoners clothes in the mouth of the dog as he sat on top of him. "Down, Hayate!" commanded Riza Hawkeye, and the dog obliged. "He doesn't care much for males, even though he is one." she explained calmly, leaning down to pet the dog.

"So I see." Roy said as he wiped dirt off his clothing. "Sorry I'm not a girl." he muttered grouchily. "Anyway, maybe we will meet again." said Roy Mustang. The girl only nodded, not continuing what she would have said without the interruption, to Roy's displeasure. He turned and walked back to his palace with a smile on his face.

The color washed out as easy as Geraldo said. One drop of water and the color dripped out, revealing his natural night-sky color. He let out a large yawn and walked to his palace, wondering what the following days would bring him.

**Thanks for reading, please read and review!**


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